Cisco Catalyst 2960-X vs. 2960-XR Series Switches

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR is the best replacement for the 2960-S series(end-of-life and end-of-sale now). 2960-X Series Switches are the greenest Cisco Catalyst access switches ever.

They are scalable, smart, simple, and secure and at the same time provide investment protection. These switches also provide Layer 3 routing capability, application-aware intelligence, and double the scale.

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches, like the 2960-S Series, are line-rate nonblocking switches with the following added features:

Dual-core CPU at 600 MHz

Cisco FlexStack-Plus stacking

◦ 80 Gbps bandwidth

◦ 8-member stack

Dual-FRU power supply with integrated fan (2960-XR only)

NetFlow-Lite on all downlink and uplink ports

Switch Hibernation mode integrated with Cisco EnergyWise™

Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) downlink ports

Signed Cisco IOS Software images

Layer 3 features with IP Lite feature set (2960-XR only)

24 port fan less model with 2 SFP and 210/100/1000BT uplinks

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-XR switch models have the following additional capabilities in addition to the features in the 2960-X models:

Dual-FRU power supply with integrated fan

Layer 3 features with IP Lite feature set

Configurable 8 queues per port (standalone)

48 Ether channel groups

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series come with a common universal image and supports LAN Lite, LAN Base, and IP Lite feature sets.

Feature Sets Supported in 2960-X Series

Platform

IP Lite

(Layer 3)

LAN Base

(Layer 2)

LAN Lite

(Basic Layer 2)

2960-XR

Yes

No

No

2960-X

No

Yes

Yes

The differences between the three Cisco IOS Software feature sets are:

LAN Lite feature set has entry-level Layer 2 features and is targeted at midmarket deployments.

LAN Base feature set comes with advanced Layer 2 features and is typically targeted at enterprise customers.

IP Lite feature set comes with enterprise access Layer 3 features and is typically targeted at enterprise customers.

The Difference between IP Lite, LAN Base, and LAN Lite Switches for the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series front panel sticker has the feature set name. From the rear of the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switch, the LAN Lite models do not support stacking. The left side will not have a location for the FlexStack-Plus module to be inserted.

From the Cisco IOS Software command line, there are two ways to tell which software image the switch has.

● The last letter in the product ID. If the last letter is “-L,” it’s LAN Base. If it’s “-LL,” it’s LAN Lite. If it’s “-I,” it’s IP Lite.

● The output from the “show license” Cisco IOS Software command-line interface (CLI) command. If LAN Base is being used, that will be the active license. If it’s LAN Lite, that will be the active license.

Following are the notable hardware components present only in LAN Base switches:

Ease of management with Cisco FlexStack-Plus

Power over Ethernet/Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE/PoE+) capabilities

Small Form-Factor Pluggable Plus (SFP+) support

Q. Do I need a software license for the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches?

A.No. Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches use the Universal image, but no license is required. The feature set is bound to the hardware model type and cannot be changed. For convenience, a single software image is used for all Cisco Catalyst 2960-X switches, regardless of whether they are IP Lite, LAN Base, or LAN Lite models.

Q. Can a Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switch feature set license be upgraded?

A.No. The feature set is bound to the hardware model. To get the features and capabilities of IP Lite, you must purchase an IP Lite switch.

Comparison of Cisco Catalyst 2960 Switches

Feature

2960-XR

2960-X

2960-S

2960

CPU

Dual core at 600 MHz

Dual core at 600 MHz

Single core

Single core

Stacking

FlexStack-Plus

FlexStack-Plus

FlexStack

No

Stack bandwidth

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

40 Gbps

–

Stack members

8

8

4

–

Power supply

Dual FRU

Fixed

Fixed

Fixed

Redundant power supply (RPS)

Yes

No

No

No

PoE+ 30W/port

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Max PoE budget

740W

740W

740W

–

External RPS

No***

Yes

Yes

No

SFP+ uplinks

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Uplinks

2 SFP+/4 SFP

2 SFP+/4 SFP

2 SFP+/4 SFP

2 SFP

Management options

Console RJ45, USB console, and out of band Ethernet

Console RJ45, USB console, and out of band Ethernet

Console RJ45, USB console, and out of band Ethernet

Console RJ45

Flash

256 MB

128 MB

64 MB

32 MB

DRAM

512 MB

512 MB

256 MB

64 MB

Active VLANs

1K

1K

255

64

EtherChannel groups

48

24

6

6

Egress buffers

4 MB

4 MB

2 MB

2 MB

Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) sessions

4

4

2

2

Max MAC addresses

32K*

16K

8K

8K

IPv4 unicast routes

24K**

16 static

16 static

16 static

NetFlow-Lite

Yes

Yes

No

No

Hibernation Mode

Yes

Yes

No

No

EEE

Yes

Yes

No

No

* vlan sdm template

** ipv4 sdm template

*** redundancy is provided by second power supply

Comparison Between FlexStack and FlexStack-Plus

Platform

Members

Bandwidth

Convergence

FlexStack

4

40 Gbps

1–2 sec

FlexStack-Plus

8

80 Gbps

100 msec

Cisco FlexStack-Plus is supported by the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series and allows the stacking of up to eight switches, with a throughput of 80 gigabits per second.

What is the Cisco FlexStack-Plus?Cisco FlexStack-Plus is a hot-swappable, modular stacking solution that provides a true stacking capability, with all switches acting as a single switching unit with a unified data plane, using a single IP address.

Q. What are the stackable models of the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series?

A. The LAN Base and IP Lite feature set models are stackable models in the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series. The LAN Lite feature set model is a standalone model.

Note:The fanless SKU (WS-C2960S-PSQ-L with Lan Base) does not support stacking

Q. Can LAN Base and IP Lite feature set models stack together in the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series?

A.No. Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR switches can’t stack together since they don’t share common feature set model.

Q. What are the FlexStack-Plus high-availability features?

A. The following features enhance high availability and manageability across a stack:

● Cross-stack EtherChannel

● SPAN

● FlexLink technology

● Hitless voice calls

The FlexStack-Plus stacking is backward compatible with FlexStack to preserve customer investment. This allows mixed stacking of Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and Cisco Catalyst 2960-SF LAN Base series with 2960-X LAN Base series for investment protection.

FlexStack Combinations

Stack Combination

Max Stack Bandwidth

Stack Limit

IOS License

2960-XR

80G

8

IP Lite

2960-X

80G

8

LAN Base

2960-S/SF

40G

4

LAN Base

Mixed Stack: 2960-X and 2960-S/SF

40G

4

LAN Base

Note: The stack is called a mixed stack if it has both the Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switch and Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches. The mixed stack features are limited to Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series features.

A.No. Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR switches can’t be stacked together; even though they belong to the same 2960-X series they do not share same IOS License models.

Possible Mixed-Stack Combinations

Mixed-Stack Combination

2960-XR

IP Lite

2960-X

LAN Base

2960-S/SF LAN Base

2960-XR IP Lite

Yes

No

No

2960-X LAN Base

No

Yes

Yes

2960-S/SF LAN Base

No

Yes

Yes

The LAN Base models can only form mixed stacks.

If Cisco Catalyst 2960-S is running the “default” SDM template, then Cisco Catalyst 2960-X must use the “default” template. If Cisco Catalyst 2960-S is running the “lanbase-routing”template, then Cisco Catalyst 2960-X must use the same.

Q. Can Cisco Catalyst 2960-S be the stack master in a mixed stack of 2960-S and 2960-X switches?

A.Yes. Cisco Catalyst 2960-S can be stack master in a mixed stack.

Q. In a mixed stack of Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960-X, must all the switches be on the same Cisco IOS Software release?

A.Yes. All the switches in the stack, regardless of model, must be on the same Cisco IOS Software release. This includes the rebuild number. The minimum Cisco IOS Software release that will support both 2960-S and 2960-X is 15.0(2)EX.

Q. Can we use FlexStack stacking modules with Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series?

A.No.The form factors of FlexStack-Plus and FlexStack modules are different. The FlexStack stacking module cannot be used with the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series. Similarly, the FlexStack-Plus module cannot be used with the Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series.

More Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series FAQ you can read here http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-x-series-switches/qa_c67-728348.html

Benefits of Migrating to Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR Switches

Recently, some people have a topic of Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR Switches, discussing their main features, Configuration, and Troubleshooting. If you want to attend this, you can read this page:

Awarded Top 100 Networking Blog

About Router-Switch.com

Router-switch.com is the World's Leading Cisco Supplier, founded in 2002. We provide network equipments that reduce the cost of network infrastructure, and is renowned for their customer service and huge supply of robust, cost-effective products. Read More>>